Subject: Link4Life Performance Management report for the 2nd Quarter 2014/15

Status: For Publication

Report to: Overview and Scrutiny Committee Cabinet Member: Councillor Daalat Ali Portfolio Holder for Community, Culture and Tourism

Date: 29 January 2015

Report of: Chief Executive Link4Life Author Email: tony.hilton@link4life.org

Author: Tony Hilton Tel: Tel: 01706 924228

Comments from Statutory Officers:

Monitoring Officer: Yes Section 151 Officer: Yes

Key Decision: 1 Purpose of the report

1.1 To provide Members of the Committee with information relating to the performance of the Rochdale Boroughwide Cultural Trust, trading as Link4Life, during the 2nd Quarter 2014/15

2 Recommendations 2.1 It is recommended that Members note the content of this report.

3 Background

3.1 The Council's Sport, Leisure and Cultural Services transferred to the Rochdale Boroughwide Cultural Trust (trading as Link4Life) on the 1st April 2007 under the terms of a Partnership Agreement between the Council and the Trust. This Agreement spans 15 years (2007 – 2022) with the option to extend for a further 5 years.

3.2 Link4Life Vision - Having undertaken a review of its medium to longer term aspirations, Link4Life has developed a new Corporate Strategy for 2014 – 17 designed as a one page, outward facing public document that articulates the Trust’s strategic vision, key aims and business objectives over the next three years

3.3 Supplementary to this new strategy is a revised 3 year Corporate Business Plan which is primarily an internal document providing further detail in terms of the actions and measures designed to address identified challenges and opportunities as well as delivering the Trust’s vision, aims and objectives

3.4 To further support this vision, revised service plans have been drawn up detailing key priorities and performance measures for 2014-15, which provide a changed context for future performance reporting to this Committee (see Appendix 1). Therefore, as referenced in paragraph 3.8, Members will note that following

negotiations with the Council’s Client Team, the Performance Management Framework for 2014/15 onwards has been refreshed to include new measures alongside existing ones. In future, all indicators will be grouped under the following headings -

‘Quality’ has been expanded to include ‘Assurance’ ‘Participation’ has been expanded to include ‘Usage and Impact’ ‘Value for Money’ has been replaced by ‘Financial Performance’ ‘Data and Intelligence’ and ‘Corporate Health’ are new ‘Workforce’ remains unchanged

‘Access’ has been removed but indicators which formerly appeared under this heading can in future be found under ‘Participation, Usage and Impact’.

3.5 To underpin what the Trust does, Members are also advised that the Link4Life Board has approved a refreshed set of Core Values, which outline how the Trust will operate. These are outlined below:-

We have PRIDE in where we work and what we do:-

Passion, Respect, Integrity, Drive, Excellence

3.6 Those indicators which are measured “per 1,000 population are calculated using the 2011 Census figure for the Borough’s population of 212,000”. This had previously stood at 206,500.

3.7 Alternatives considered The alternative of not reporting on the performance of the Trust to the Committee would create a risk of the Council not obtaining assurance that it receives value for money in respect of the Contract Fee being paid to the Trust for the delivery of services and that those services might not contribute to the achievement of the Council’s corporate aims and objectives. 3.8 In addition, if Link4Life were not to report on performance, it would contravene its obligations under Schedule 11 of the Partnership Agreement (‘Governance and Monitoring’ arrangements), which requires the Trust to attend Overview & Scrutiny Committee meetings and present performance reports “in accordance with the Council’s corporate performance management framework as varied from time to time”. 3.9 Consultation proposed/undertaken Since the inception of Link4Life in 2007, the development of its performance management framework has been subject to consultation with and agreement of the Council. Currently, the Council and Link4Life are part way through a joint review of its Partnership Agreement, which has so far resulted in a further revised performance management framework for 2014/15 (attached to this report at Appendix 1). 3.9.1 This framework includes a broader range of measures which is considered more accurately reflect the range of services delivered by the Trust and which contribute to the new priorities and aspirations of both parties, which in the case of the local authority relates to the Council’s recently revised Performance Management Framework devised around the corporate thematic priorities of ‘People, Places, Prosperity and Public Service Reform’. Further context relating to Link4Life’s future direction is provided at paragraphs 3.2 – 3.5. 3.9.2 Subsequent to the presentation of the revised 2014/15 Performance Management Framework (PMF) to the 16th October 2014 meeting of this Committee,

Link4Life has since been requested by Public Health to report on performance relating to the ‘mental wellbeing of participants’ utilising (i) the Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale (WEMWBS) scoring system and (ii) personal wellbeing-related targets or goals set by clients. 3.9.3 WEMWBS is a scale of 14 positively worded items or statements, with 5 response categories for assessing an individual’s mental wellbeing. Although not compulsory, course participants are asked to describe their mental wellbeing status at both the start and end of a course of activity (of typically a minimum 2 week duration) in order to gauge improvement in a person’s mental wellbeing. 3.9.4 With regards to this measure, the Link4Life courses in question during 2014/15 are 3 CCG funded and 1 Rochdale Township funded ‘Primetime First - Functional Fitness MOT’ for adults aged 40+ who suffer from mobility/balance/weight-related conditions. The courses last 10 weeks and the annual target is “80% of those completing the course and using the WEMWBS system achieve a 10% increase in their mental wellbeing score”. The data is included in the PMF at indicator P29 under the heading of “Participation, Usage & Impact (Neighbourhood & Communities)” and performance commentary can be found at paragraph 3.12.1c in this report 3.9.5 The second wellbeing measure will be introduced at the fourth ‘Primetime First - Functional Fitness MOT’ scheduled to run from the 12th of January to the 16th March 2015 and its performance will be reported to a future meeting of this Committee, the data for which will appear on the PMF at indicator P30 under the heading of “Participation, Usage & Impact (Neighbourhood & Communities)”.

3.10 Key headlines for this quarter:- Sport, Leisure & Civic venues

• Public swimming usage was above target for this period. Mild weather and an extended school holiday programme has contributed to the number of swims at Link4Life facilities for this quarter totaling 68,427, 13.79% above target. Adult swims in particular saw an excellent increase in swimming number resulting in swims being 23.3% above target.

• The percentage of online class bookings and fast track kiosk class bookings continue to increase and are proving to be a very popular method of booking, providing the added benefit of freeing up more reception staff time to deal face to face with the public;

Arts & Heritage

• The service co-ordinated the Heritage Open Days 2014 event. 2014 proved to be the most successful event with over 3,200 recorded visitors attending over 45 activities across the borough.

• The Service was successful in its application to Arts Council England for Museum Accreditation. The Museum Accreditation panel have awarded this for Touchstones Rochdale as it was more appropriate to recognise Touchstones Rochdale as the ‘main base for the Arts and Heritage Service’s public programming activity and user offer’ and to ‘simplify the returns process for the service by amalgamating the range of activities and existing service delivery across multiple sites under the one Accreditation award’

Neighbourhood & Communities

• 17 events were supported by our volunteer programme during this quarter, the highlight being the Tour De France. Other events supported included, two Link4Life Big Games events, 12 Park runs, the Feel Good Festival and RDA Kingsway 10K Run. 153 volunteers supported the events contributing 940 volunteer hours this period.

• 421 new participants joined the Activ8te Me Programme during this period. During this quarter 7,632 visits were recorded on the Activ8te sessions as the Sport England funded programme expands across the borough.

3.11 Performance Overview: Quarter 2 July – September 2014 3.11.1 Improving Performance

Sport, Leisure and Civic venues 3.11.2 During this quarter, a number of measures from across Sport, Leisure and Civic venues have exceeded targets for the period as follows:-

Performance Measure TARGET ACTUALS VARIANCE

Total Swims 60,135 68,427 +8,292 +13.79%

Adult Swims 37,070 45,708 +8,638 +23.30%

Public Swim Lessons 33,400 34,593 +1,193 +3.57%

Junior Gym Usage 8,660 10,440 +1,780 +20.55%

% of fitness classes booked online 45.00% 65.00% 20.00% +44.50%

3.11.3 In relation to the above table, it should be highlighted that the number of overall swims and in particular adult swims has increased this quarter. This has been aided by the installation of fast track kiosk at Rochdale Leisure Centre which has seen an increase in the number of users registering to swim via the kiosk. This has improved further our data and intelligence in this key performance area. 3.11.4 Fitness Member attrition continues to be excellent and the attrition rate for this quarter was lower (3.98%) than our target (4.37%). In essence, this means that the rate at which members end or do not renew their membership is lower than our target and also lower than the industry average which is currently around 7%. This provides assurance that we are able to retain fitness members, the success of which can be attributed to the following factors:-

• Standard of facility and service

• Engagement process for Non-Users

• Class programme improvements

• Refurbishment programme at Heywood Sports Village (and previous at Middleton Arena 2013/2014)

Middleton Arena – Overall usage 102,935 against a target of 94,000 represented an over achievement of 8,935 visits. This is due to a combination of factors, including an increase in the number of swimming lessons offered, a successful summer holiday programme, and a new squash competition ladder being introduced which has improved participation rates in this sport.

Rochdale Leisure Centre – Public swimming lessons at Rochdale LC have outperformed the quarterly target with the total number of lessons at 12,209, a

variance of +409. Online booking of activities is very popular and has shown a 6,000 increase this period.

Heywood Sports Village – The increase in Youth Gym membership (SHOKK) is particularly pleasing in support not only of our overall aim to increase participation in physical activity but also to broaden the variety of activities on offer to young people.

The extended period of mild weather has seen an unexpected 33% increase in the adult participation rate in swimming.

Littleborough Sports Centre – Usage for this quarter was 29.7% above target, with a usage total of 40,468 being recorded against a target of 31,200. This period included the ‘Go4it’ branded children’s holiday programme for the first time and high demand for the programme saw a large increase in usage by children and young people.

Link4Life have also recommended a pupil of the Link4Life Swim Academy to receive a Roll of Honour Award from the Swimming Teachers’ Association, a top accolade which has only been awarded four times in the past 14 years. The schoolgirl became a holiday hero when she rescued her young friend from drowning. Rebecca Hayley, used her lifeguard training to save a five-year-old boy who got into difficulty at her hotel pool during a family break in Lanzarote.

The 9 year old girl, a pupil at Whittaker Moss Primary School learned lifesaving skills as part of the Heywood Sports Village Rookie Lifeguard Gold programme and was one of the youngest children ever to qualify under the scheme.

Arts & Heritage Service 3.11.5 There have been some encouraging trends within the Service in the second quarter, highlighted as follows:-

Neighbourhood and Communities Service 3.11.6 In 2014/15, the Neighbourhood and Communities (N&C) Service will deliver over 20 programmes, many of them on an ‘outreach’ or community development basis and which are largely dependent on external funding. 3.11.7 The three main delivery strands and respect activity programmes are as follows:-

Ref Measure Annual target

Qtr. 2 target

Qtr. 2 actual

Variance between Actual and Target for Q2 and contributing factors

P15 No of online visitors 200,000 50,000 79,536 59.1% above target

Online visitors have far exceeded the target this quarter. This has been boosted through our curation and

publishing online ‘Ride Rochdale’ in conjunction with the Tour De France.

P16 No of visit/ usages of museum per 1000 population - 170a (Total Visitors to

Service)

1,354 355.75 480.84 35.2% above target

Total Visitors to the service includes that of online usage.

P19 No of school children using the service

outside Touchstones

7,000 1,119 2129 90.3% above target

For the new academic year we expanded our outreach offer to schools

with new loan boxes and outreach sessions.

P20 No of children and young people (0-25 yrs.) engaging with the service in the community outside formal education

3,000 1,413 1,993 41.0% above target

This again provided activities for children and their families. Of the feedback received 96% gave an

approval rating of 4/5.

P24 No of events promoted

1,000 430 585 36.0% above target

The Visitor Information Centre (VIC) continues to promote the borough, especially events. One driver for the

increased number of events promoted is the Preview magazine which is also available online through the website.

3.11.8 Members will note that the performance indicators for these three strands appear in Appendix 1 at PI Refs P28, P28 (a), (b) and (c) and will capture the number of attendees on community outreach schemes. 3.11.9 In Quarter 2, there has been excellent progress across all three strands where success has been seen within the following programmes:- Health & Wellbeing (H&WB) There has been an up-scaled delivery of the Energy Club programme (Children & Families Weight Management Programme) in response to a backlog in referrals from School Nurses to the Healthy Weight Team and we introduced summer holiday clubs for the first time. These ran in Rochdale (2), Heywood & Middleton and attracted 54 children/38 families into the programme with good results in physical and wellbeing assessments taken pre and post programme. Disability programmes continue to attract new participants in both the adult and children’s activities with additional activities added to the programme for summer 2014.

STRAND PROGRAMME/PROJECT TARGET GROUP

HEALTH & WELLBEING

Healthy Workforce Scheme (RBC, RBH, L4L)

Internal workforce

Energy Club (Children’s Healthy Weight)

Children aged 4 – 12 years/families

ActiveLife (Community outreach) Adults – sedentary groups, older people

Primetime First (CCG project : Older People)

Adults - obesity, stroke, reduced mobility

Disability Sport/Cultural Activities Disabled adults, children and young people

Community CHD (Coronary Heart Disease)

Non active cardiac patients and those at risk of CHD

Healthy Families Parents/carers linked to Go4it

Healthy Schools Secondary and Primary schools

CAPACITY, SPORT & ADULT PARTICIPATION

Activ8te ME Over 14 years/targeting sedentary groups

Volunteering Aged 16+

Coach Education and Training Aged 16+

Club Support All local sports clubs

CHILDREN & YOUNG PEOPLE

School Coaching Primary schools

Holiday Activities (Middleton Holiday at Home, Rochdale Holiday at Home, Go4it Holiday programme)

Aged 5+

Go4it Clubs Aged 5 – 11

Street Games Aged 11 – 19

Doorstep Clubs Aged 14 – 25

Sportivate Aged 11 – 25

Satellite Clubs Aged 11 – 19

A successful Boccia Club has been established in the Borough with two participants progressing to National Championships. Accessible cycling continues to attract over 60 participants each week at Bowlee Sports Centre with PossAbilities and other adult care services now attending every week. Capacity, Sport and Adult Participation (CS&AP)

Activ8teme is an exciting programme of sports activities for adults of all ages and abilities. Launched in September 2013, it is funded by Sport England and aims to get 25,000 people more active over the next three years. It offers a choice of 8 sports, 8 reasons to get active and 8 main centres to get active at.

As a result of the better than expected take-up on this 3 year project, this year’s annual target for new participants of 1,989 has already been exceeded. Usage also increased in QTR 2 with 7,632 attendances on the scheme, following on the last quarter attendance of 6,903

In relation to the Activ8te Me programme, the following table details usage in Quarter 2. NB. This usage links with the performance indicator P28 (b) on Appendix 1 which describes the number of attendees on programmes such as Activ8te Me:-

Venue Total

Bowlee Park Sports Centre 425 Castleton Pool 3 Heywood Sports Village 759 Hollingworth Lake WAC 76 Kingsway Park Sports Centre 387 Littleborough Sports Centre 442 Middleton Arena 582 Neighbourhood & Communities 2,016 Rochdale Leisure Centre 2,942

Grand Total 7,632

In addition to the usage data above, 421 new participants registered for the scheme in QTR 2 and as of the end of QTR 2 there are now 3,511 registered Activ8te Me participants. Sports Awards Link4Life hosted this year’s Rochdale Borough Community Sports Awards on Wednesday 17th September at Rochdale Rugby Union Football Club. 135 guests attended including nominees and their family and friends, local councillors, Joanna Rowsell MBE, local businesses and other VIPs. All successful nominees went on to represent the Borough at the Greater Manchester Sports Awards on the 7th November 2014. In total, 61 nominations were received for the event. Children and Young People (C&YP) Similar to the H&WB and CS&AP programmes, performance to date of some of the C&YP activities indicate encouraging levels of take up in line with targets, namely:-

Primary School Coaching Programme: No of children participating 1047 = (from 14 schools) Programme being delivered for the Summer term in the following Primary Schools: Alice Ingham, All Saints, Ashfield Valley, Caldershaw, Meanwood, Middleton Parish,

Sandbrook, Shawclough, St John Thornham, St John Fisher, St Mary’s (Balderstone), St Margarets, St Michaels (Middleton) and St Peters CE.

Sports being delivered in both curriculum and after School clubs are Athletics, Basketball, Dodgeball, Football, Handball, Multi Skills (Fundamentals of Movement), Netball and Tennis. Public Health Funded Go4it Clubs: No of participants (aged 8-12 yrs.) = 120 (from 4 clubs) Programme delivered at St Mary’s (Bowlee), Bowlee PS, St Gabriels (Middleton) and Newhey PS. Now delivered within eight of the Schools for the 2013/14 academic year, remaining 12 clubs to be delivered in academic year 2014/15

Public Health Funded Street Games (holiday activities): No of participants (aged 8 - 12 yrs.) = 215

Street Games Festivals: No of participants = 20 Funding confirmed for additional 5 Neighborhood Festivals. Street Games Festivals - participants came from the DSC ran in the borough and Youth Service sessions. 20 young people from the borough attended the Football and Table Tennis SG Festival Year 2 Doorstep Sport Clubs:

No of participants (aged 14 - 25 yrs.) in attendance in Quarter 2 stands at 170 (from 5

clubs), with an annual target of 250 participants.

This programme is being delivered as a result of a £22,500 grant from Sport England

aimed at establishing 5 clubs by March 2015. Five clubs are now established and

these are:

1. Rochdale Saturday Girls - Zumba, gym, swimming activities with high regular

attendance (average of 50) by 11-25 year old BME females;

2. Rochdale Friday Night - football and gym with high regular attendance (average of

60) by 11-19 year old BME males;

3. Heywood Friday Night - football, dodgeball, tennis, badminton with regular

attendance (average of 20) 11-19 year old males;

4. The Peoples Gym - Boxing, Table Tennis, Keep Fit, Pool- New sports club with

participants increasing all the time (average of 20).

5. Middleton Us Girls- Street Dance sessions delivered at Middleton Pop Stars for females only aged 14-25 Sportivate Programme:

No of participants (aged 11- 25 yrs.) involved in this quarter equates to 150 across 13 different clubs and organisations delivering projects. This programme received £17,008 from Sport England and offers the following sports; Windsurfing, Sailing, Kayaking, Archery, Boxing, Angling, Gym Sessions, Trampolining, Football, and Mountaineering

3.12 Sustained Performance 3.12.1 It should be noted that whilst there have been encouraging performances across sites within this second period whereby targets have been exceeded, there are also areas where performance has been sustained or consolidated indicating that targets have been broadly met (within a 5% tolerance) and these are detailed as

follows:- 3.12.1a Sport, Leisure & Civic (S,L&C) venues

• PI Ref P4 : Total visits – 477,310 visits, down by 14,390 (-2.93%) on target

• PI Ref P9 : Children’s swims lessons – down on target by 44 (-0.1%)

• PI Ref P6 : Total no. fitness members – down by 495 (-4.65%)

• PI Ref P13 : Junior swims – down by 346 (-1.5%)

• PI Ref P10 : Public Swim Lessons – up by 1,193 (+3.57%) 3.12.1b Arts & Heritage Service

• PI Ref P14 : Total number of visits to Touchstones Rochdale – up by 121 (+0.86%) 3.12.1c Neighbourhood & Communities Service

• WEMWBS overview (PI Ref P29) As previously referred to in paragraphs 3.3.2 – 3.3.4, this new performance indicator was only introduced after the 1st Quarter report to this Committee in October, therefore the performance data and narrative contained in the Quarter 2 report is in respect of the first two of the three HMR CCG funded 10 week ‘Functional Fitness MOT’ courses, which took place between March and June (Heywood Sports Village) and between June and August (Rochdale Leisure Centre).

The Functional Fitness MOT is a person-centered tool that uses a number of different physical function tests to give adults aged 60+ a measure as to how their fitness compares to their peers. The classes provide activities which improve postural stability and balance to promote greater independence and reduce the risks of falls in the future.

Some of the aims of the Functional Fitness project are to

• increase the number of older people taking part in physical activity at least once a week;

• increase in individual activity participation from baseline measurement;

• contribute to falls prevention agenda by maintaining mobility and independence in the older age group and specifically to reduce the numbers of older people admitted to A&E for falls as well as reductions in older people sustaining primary and secondary fractures

Over the first two courses, 19 people took part and 13 completed, which is a compliance rate of almost 70%. The main reasons for non-completion were hospitalisation for surgery or for appointments in relation to long-term conditions.

In terms of this indicator which measures the percentage of participants using WEMWBS whose mental wellbeing improved by 10%, the annual target is 80% and in this period the actual is 78%.

3.12.2 As at Quarter 2, it is nevertheless anticipated that the above indicators are on track to achieve annual targets other than ‘P6: Total no. fitness members’, where it is estimated that the annual target will be underachieved by approximately 8%, which is attributable to the following factors:-

• Local Budget Gym Offering expansion and continued presence.

• Economic climate & disposable income

• Marketing saturation (both L4L and other gym offerings in the area)

• Reduced pricing at Virgin Active It should be noted that the annual target for 2014/15 (10,940) represents a 2% increase on the previous year’s outturn (10,690). However, this acts as a major incentive to the fitness sales and retention team whose main responsibility is to generate membership sales and to retain gym members. Nevertheless, notwithstanding the challenges outlined above, the following sales recovery actions are currently being undertaken in an attempt to arrest the decline in memberships:-

• Additional marketing methods (such as ‘Advertising Bikes’) to increase local brand awareness;

• Individual focussed site specific marketing campaign, highlighting strengths of each facility within its locality;

• Retention Consultant focus on non-users and cancellation recovery calls;

• Strong money led offers to remove price / financial objections (e.g. December offer, pay nothing until February 2015).

3.12.3 The number of gym members as at Quarter 3 (October – December) is 10,059. Traditionally, however the post-Christmas period (Quarter 4) is the main time for gym sales and growth and progress on this will be reported to a future meeting of this Committee. 3.13 Reduced Performance Sport, Leisure & Civic venues 3.13.1 There has been under performance in this quarter in relation to School Swimming Lessons. The target of 11,350 was not achieved and lessons were 10.9% short of the target (10,113). Members should note however, that target setting for school swimming lessons is historically difficult to estimate due to the varied and differing nature of both the intake in pupils each year, the differing number of weeks each year depending on term times which varies from quarter to quarter and the added difficulty of the school’s annual year to be aligned to Link4Life’s financial year. It should be noted that despite this lower than expected performance in Quarter 2, an above target performance in Quarter 1 (+8.6%) means that the service is on target to achieve the performance level for 2014-15.

This year in an effort to increase the number of pupils achieving the Key Stage 2 standard of being able to swim 25 metres, Link4Life have improved and developed their school swimming lessons programme so that pupils now attend for a one hour slot rather than the previous 30 minutes sessions. Whilst pupils receive the same number of hours of swimming lessons, the more intensive approach will hopefully increase the number of pupils achieving KS2, which is a new indicator in 2014-15 (P11). Arts and Heritage Service 3.13.2 The quarterly target for the ‘No of items documented’ is 1,250. However, due to technical issues with the server only 396 were documented in this period and this follows on for similar problems in QTR 1. The above problems have been resolved and it is anticipated that the service can begin to make inroads into reaching the annual

target of 5,000, although the annual forecast has now been revised to 3,000 documents to take account of the problems from the first two quarters. 3.13.3 With regards to the ‘Workforce’ Performance Indicators, when compared with the preceding period in 2014/15 (Quarter 1) and the corresponding quarter in the previous year, all sickness absence measures show slight increased levels:-

Ave no days lost (PI Ref W1)

Ave no days lost as a % (PI Ref W2)

Ave no days lost – Long Term (PI Ref W3)

Ave no days lost – Short Term (PI Ref W4)

% Staff with NIL sickness absence (PI Ref W5)

2014/15 : Q2 2.84 4.98% 1.86 0.98 76.51%

2014/15 : Q1 2.43 4.26% 1.83 0.61 77.46%

2013/14 : Q2 1.25 2.19% 0.45 0.79 86.91%

3.13.4 In relation to Long Term sickness, 12 staff were absent in Quarter 2, of whom –

• 2 staff members left in Q2

• 6 staff members returned to work in Q2

• 2 staff members returned to work in Q3

• 1 staff member returned to work in Q3, but went off sick with a different condition in Q3

• 1 staff member is still absent in Q3

• For the 2 members of staff that left in Q2, they have as yet not been replaced. Instead, the roles are being covered temporarily by changed rotas and restructure in line with Link4Life’s proposed efficiency programme. Nevertheless, there has been no detriment to service delivery.

3.13.5 An analysis/dashboard of cumulative health-related absences can be found at Appendix 3 of this report. 3.13.6 In order to reduce sickness absences, Link4Life has introduced a Positive Management of Attendance policy (incorporating sickness absence policy guidance). The policy aims to -

• Manage sickness by providing a clear step by step approach to dealing with both short-term and long-term sickness in a fair and consistent manner;

• Assist managers to deal with absence issues and

• Provide appropriate support to facilitate staff retention and return to work after sickness absence.

3.13.7 In addition, Link4Life has recently launched an Employee Performance Development Review (EPDR) scheme, which is a Pay and Progression initiative that forms part of Link4Life’s Performance Management Framework. To qualify for a step progression through payment of an increment on their salary, staff must attain acceptable levels of performance standards, one of which is measured in terms of sickness absence levels. 3.14 COMPLAINTS and COMMENTS 3.14.1 Link4Life has received 21 complaints in the 2nd Quarter, details of which, along with lessons learned can be found in Appendix 2a.

3.14.2 In relation to the performance indicators and targets, the percentage of complaints upheld during this period across Link4Life services (Indicator D13) was 24% which is slightly better than the annual performance target of 25%.

3.14.3 In relation to indicator D14 - The percentage of complaints responded to within the requisite timescale (10 days), was higher for the quarter than the annual target.

QTR 2 Actual 2014-15 Target

DI3 The percentage of complaints upheld 24% 25%

DI4

The percentage of complaints responded to within the requisite timescale (10 days)

95% 90%

3.14.4 Summary of Link4Life Complaints

• Which facility/service area –

• Status (and at which stage ‘closed’) - all 21 complaints were resolved at Stage 1.

• Timescales – dealt with inside/outside Stage 1 – 10 working days Stage 2 – 5 days to acknowledge, 15 days to respond from date of acknowledgment

Link4Life Number

Heywood Sports Village 4

Littleborough Sports Centre 1

Middleton Arena 5

Rochdale Leisure Centre 11

Total 21

Link4Life Number

Upheld 5

Partially Upheld 5

Not Upheld 11

Link4Life Number

Inside Timescales 20

Outside Timescales 1

• Compliments – please see Appendix 2b for details of compliments received.

Link4Life Number

Compliments 8

3.15 ACTIVITY IN QUARTER 3 3.15.1 The Quarter 3 report to this Committee will feature the following activities delivered and/or supported by Link4Life:-

• Middleton Arena – Annual Pantomime (December)

• Rochdale Leisure Centre – Fitness Challenge Event

• Installation of Self Service Kiosks at Heywood Sports Village

4 Financial Implications

4.1 The Partnership Agreement between the Council and the Trust includes a Payment Mechanism with a formula, which provides for deductions from the agreed Contract Fee in the event of non-performance by the Trust. The Payment Mechanism calculations are undertaken once year-end accounts are finalised.

5 Legal Implications

5.1 There are no specific legal implications arising from this report.

6 Personnel Implications 6.1 There are no personnel implications arising from this report.

7 Corporate Priorities

7.1 Link4Life is a member of the Public Service Reform (PSR) Board and Public Service Reform Executive working in close partnership with PSR theme leads to contribute to the programme’s 5 priorities - ‘Early Years’, ‘Health & Social Care’, ‘Stronger Families’, ‘Transforming Justice’ and ‘Work & Skills’. In addition, the Trust is also represented on the Children and Young People’s Partnership and the Rochdale Borough Safeguarding Boards. 7.2 This report meets the following corporate priorities as included in the ‘Vision and Blueprint for Rochdale Council 2014/15’ document

• Building Success and Independence (Improving health, wellbeing and prosperity; Volunteering and Citizenship; Working with Partners);

• Quality of Place (new development in the Borough);

• Critical Services (Adult and Children’s Social Care Services)

8. Risk Assessment Implications

8.1 There are no specific risk issues for Members to consider arising from this report.

9. Equalities Impacts

9.1 Workforce Equality Impacts Assessment

There are no (significant) workforce equality issues arising from this report. 9.2 Equality/Community Impact Assessments

There are no (significant) equality/community issues arising from this report. Link4Life is committed to working in accordance with Rochdale Council’s Equality and Diversity Policy “No Matter Who” and believes that the services it delivers have a positive impact in addressing health inequalities and promoting the health and wellbeing of people who live, work and visit the borough.

Background Papers

Document Place of Inspection

‘Overview and Scrutiny Committee - 2014/15’ file

Link4Life Head Office, Floor 3, Number One Riverside, Smith Street, Rochdale OL16 1ZZ